"Very poor service."

The receptionist at thr Accodent and Emergency desk was polite and friendly.

What could be improved

The doctor my wife saw was arrogant, spoke so quickly that it was difficult to know what he was saying and treated the both of us very poorly.

My wife was looked at due to back pain, having been to Dudley walk in centre the day before, we decided to visit A&E as the pain was not showing any signs of easing off.

The doctor who saw us was not going to recommend an X-ray until we asked for one, the doctor the previous day had told us we must have one through our GP.

Interestingly, after my wife told him she was a Student Nurse at QE Hospital he said we should have gone there as the care is better. This didn't fill us with confidence.

Whilst my wife was having her X-ray the pull cord in the disabled toilets was pulled and the alarm was sounded. The two members of staff nearest to the toilet were more interested in discussing their recent nights out than investigating the alarm. Thankfully it was a mistake and no one was hurt but it would have gone unnoticed if it had been more serious.

Upon going back to cubicles we were told to go from one nurses station to another before the doctor eventually turned up and said that he would get my wife some painkillers. There was no explanation as to what was causing the pain.

After 15 minutes waiting I went in search of the doctor and spoke to a nurse who eventually turned up with some tablets, but didn't tell us what they were until we asked. We were not happy with what we were given and asked to speak to the doctor.

He returned and told us that my wife had pulled a muscle and the X-ray did not show anything more serious. After explaining why we did not want a certain drug he kept questioning us about our decision before prescribing is Diazipan, but only after telling us it's for patients with depression and anxiety. Neither of which my wife has.

We left feeling as if none of our questions had been answered and that the whole experience was a waste of time.

Anything else?

I am so dissatisfied with the service we received from the doctor that have written to the General Medical Council outlining the facts above.

Also of note is that the cubicles I could see were not being cleaned after each patient left them. Infection control was severely lacking.

Responses

Thank you for taking the time to comment on your experience of our Accident and Emergency department. We welcome all feedback and would like to assure you that all comments are taken seriously and acted upon as part of our ongoing commitment to improving patient experience.

We are concerned by your comments. This is not the kind of experience we would want anyone to have as a patient in our care. We always strive to provide the highest standard of care and we are sorry if, on this occasion, our standards fell short of those we aim to provide.

All doctors do receive training in effective communication and it appears that on this occasion we could have done better. There is never an excuse for arrogant behaviour and we will ensure the head of the department is made aware of your feedback so that we can learn lessons and improve the service we provide our patients and visitors.

Infection control is a key priority and we would like to assure you and your wife that we carry out a number of audits to ensure cleanliness is maintained including weekly cleaning audits and matron rounds. Trolleys are cleaned after each patient and cubicles are checked. If patients have concerns around infection control, or any aspect of their care, we would urge them to speak to the nurse in charge at the time so that we can take immediate and appropriate action. However, we will pass on your observations to the A&E matron and head of Infection Control.

You have raised a number of issues and would ask you or your wife to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on free phone 0800 0730510 so that we can discuss them further.